Twitter’s Increased the Limit from 140 to 280 Characters and reactions!

Twitter’s Increased the Limit from 140 to 280 Characters and reactions!

When you think about Twitter, the issues that pop up in your mind are nonstop harassment, cruel propagandas and a president threatening potential nuclear war. Twitter has proved itself to be a modern-day war arena. People get to put out their frustration and even welcome the new changes. All of it, in the 140 character limit. But, here is something new! Twitter is officially doubling its signature 140-character limit for all users. The decision has been taken following a “successful” trial run in September with select users.

Twitter’s destroyed its USP. The whole point, for me, was how inventive people could be within that concise framework. #Twitter280characters

Twitter 140 to 280. What is it all about?

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Aliza Rosen, the Twitter product manager, wrote in a blog spot that at Twitter the change is being made after listening and observing a problem. The global community on Twitter always remarked- it wasn’t easy enough to Tweet! Twitter studied data to understand how it could improve. And here is the wonder!

Most people should automatically see the 280-character feature. If not, an update on their mobile app or refresh twitter.com on their computers. It is to be noted that people tweeting in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese will remain at the 140 character limit for now. Twitter says historically 9 percent of tweets in English hit the 140-character limit. Howsoever, the volume falls to 1 percent when 280 characters are available.

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The move comes at an awkward time for Twitter. The Social Media honcho has been facing criticism and strain from shareholders, Congress, President Donald Trump and everyday people who use it. Among the most-discussed complaints have been concerns that the company negligently mishandled the daily harassment. It is believed that Twitter allowed propaganda on the platform that illegally influenced the 2016 presidential election.

It’s probably no surprise that the company’s user count has stalled at 330 million accounts! That’s after Twitter admitted to having overestimated user numbers for three years. Concerns about Russian interference in the US election led Congressional leaders to grill Facebook, Google and Twitter. The leaders asked for the details of how that intrusive action happened and what the tech giants are doing to stop it. Fearing federal regulation, the Tech Giants have vowed to make changes.

What is the significance of Twitter’s increased 280 Limit?

So, what do 280 characters hold significance in this regard? “The announcement could briefly divert negative attention from larger problems”, said Kelley Heider. Kelley is a crisis communications expert at SSPR, a public relations firm that often works with tech companies.

When the 280-character trial began, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in series of tweets that the original 140-character limit was subjective. He claimed that it was inspired by the 160-character limit for SMS messages over cell phones. “What matters now is we clearly show why this change is important, and to prove to you it’s better,” he said. “Give us some time to learn and confirm our ideas.”